Wednesday, May 23, 2012

cruising odds and ends -- ii

The photographs may be odds and ends, but life itself has its own odds and ends.

I have always been fascinated by buildings that have been torn down, but the penumbra of the structure lives on in its neighbor. Such as the proscenium arch in demolished theaters.

If you click on the photograph to the right, you can see a former resident's taste in wallpaper in her long-gone apartment. Or her upstairs neighbor's subtler approach to sitting room decor.

In Cartagena.

I saw this bit of irony several years ago while taking a backstage tour of the theater. It is still there. I am willing to bet the stick figure represents a dancer who now bears a scar. Art imitating life.

What more can I say? Barcelona this time. A block away from the Picasso Museum. This golden retriever was sitting -- patiently waiting for his master to come out of the shop. Jiggs would never have been that patient. He would have been looking for a horn to honk.

I wish I could give you an earlier warning. But those of you who believe meat comes in styrofoam packages may find the photograph below a bit disturbing. The heads in a Barcelona market reminded me of my first baked lamb head at a Greek Easter. It was not ba-a-a-d.

Love reigns supreme no matter where I went. This was the cathedral plaza in Barcelona. The couple had eyes for no one else. Such shows of affection were specifically discouraged in Dubai. Even at the mall.

This mural decorated the front of a wine shop in The Azores. I liked its modernity. A busy street kept me from getting a better shot.

There were very few young people on the cruise from New Orleans to Barcelona. But this young Scottish couple added a romantic note. Just before the Love and Marriage game began, the young man brought his girl friend to the stage and proposed to her in front of us. Of course, she accepted.

Sometimes, classic children's literature comes to life. Such as the pushmi-pullyu I saw at the Giza pyramids.